Robotics;Notes – 09

「血と汗と涙の結晶ですから」 (Chi to Ase to Namida no Kesshou desukara)
“Blood, Sweat and Tears”

Up until now, Robotics;Notes has been smooth sailing for the Robotics Club. They had a great success after the first tournament. They were able to receive funding and even got magazine interviews and publicity. I’m not sure if I’m surprised to find out that their first prototype for the GunPro-1 failed. On the one hand, I was actually expecting them to succeed and get the GunPro-1 moving. On the other hand, I always imagined that the pivotal turning point of the series would be much later (perhaps after all the reports were discovered) so I was a little skeptical of the GunPro-1. I guess that’s why it’s called the GunPro-1… because there has to be a #2 coming up soon! With that said, I’m glad that there are going to be more bumps along the way. I feel terrible for saying so, but you’ll only learn from your mistakes if you experience them to begin with.

There were a ton of flashbacks this episode of Misa; mainly from Aki’s POV and a few from Kai’s POV from last week. It makes me wonder what happened to Misa that changes her from A to B. She appears to be this robot-loving, very goal-oriented person and she was very focused on building the GunPro-1. Nowadays, she’s no longer this loving person that she appears to be in memory. In fact, she ignores her sisters’ messages and might I add – I think Misa is actually disappointed in her sister. Perhaps that could be the impression that she wants to leave (to push Aki further?), but it doesn’t seem like she could give two sh*ts about her sister anymore. It’d be nice to see her history explored a little more, like how she became the way she is and what’s affected her way of thinking.

I’m not sure where the story is headed now that there’s been another dead-end. I was half-expecting there to be another revelation between Kona and Kai, but that never happened. There was a slight mention of the Kimijima Kou reports, but nothing that would suggest that Kona knows who he is. I am hoping that she does… perhaps he was related to Kona’s mother somehow. Oh! And speak of the devil, Kona meets Airi! That was definitely unexpected, and here I was thinking that Kai was trying to keep her a secret.

Can’t say much more about this episode since this seems like the end of an arc. With the completion (and failure) of the GunPro-1, this leaves me to wonder how they’re going to go about building the next one (because obviously they will given the first episode) and how is this supposed to tie to the Kimijima reports. I know I sound super impatient every week, but I cannot express how much I enjoy a good mystery so it’s only raising my expectations of the revelation. Throw in the fact that I cannot live without a good romance aspect, so I’m secretly dying to see more Aki and Kai scenes. No surprise there, I like seeing a good conclusion for visual novels.

What surprised me in all the flashbacks was that Misa seemed to me like an adult woman wearing a High Schooler’s uniform because of her voice and looks. Akiho and Kai don’t seem the same at all, despite being in their senior year. Oh, well..

Well, you could say it’s because there is some kind of time warping in memories, seniors always feel as somebody older than you, even if at this moment now you are past their age as they were at the moment you are remembering.

I just love Frau and the way she speaks and all of her reactions as well, it’s funny how Sister Centipede and Frau understood each other, that was quite surprising.

I want to ask, is that scene from the 1st episode actually going to happen? Will they actually make a life-sized Gunvarrel? It’s kinda hard to believe that they can go from THIS to THIS in such a short time. But on the other hand it makes me excited to see them actually get there, IF they will actually get there.

Oh crap…. I may had been saying tht Aki needs some reality check, but I didn’t expect it to be “her dream crushing in front of her”…. Poor poor Aki…. Kai you better get her back to normal soon…. This guy really care a lot more abt Aki than he shows….

Srsly Misa, wht your deal?? It seems like she purposely withheld the information tht it wouldn’t work frm Aki and Kai…. Not to mention she seems like she didn’t care abt Aki anymore…

And I don’t even know the deal abt Nae and Mitchie anymore….. I thought previously Mitchie was in love with Shoplady?? (Srsly why I can”t seem to remember your name >.<) Also I kinda like how Nae is just standing there doing nothing XD

Wow surprisingly Frau and Airi gets along (O.O) Their danger level is over the normal threshold! /I kid.
Also, Frau goon/metaspeak is awesome this time around lol. But tht where the term “husbando” comes in :P

Aki had too many expectations. It was not bad to finish the job of his sister and members of the club, but not had to wait more than a common model of “mini-robot” mecha super size, the design was inadequate to its own weight.
The only bad thing in the character of Aki’s high expectations, but this event will teach her ​​to accept the good and bad things to learn from them and move forward to achieve her dream.

oh well, i didn’t expect it to move (at least it wasn’t the same version that went flying/ in the anime intro in episode 1 << especially the legs)

but then i really hate how they have to invite the crowd just to stomp on upon Aki's feelings (failing without crowds would hurt lesser), but oh well, i guess it needs drama @_@

and yeah.. right now i'm most curoius on how has Aki's sister turned into someone like that (at first i don't even know it's her sister until the late episodes because she doesn't seem to be the kind sister Kai/Aki kept recalling their memories)

and that last sentence/quote of her before the ending… ouch… i hope Aki doesn't hear that..

—–
about the anime being about robots:
not only the intro in ep1 that hooked me to this anime (because i like robos) is when Airi (sister centipede) said "sono me, dare no me" i was like whhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhat!? what does CH has to do with this xD"!? (CH isn't even that much related back in SG…)

what surprised more was that anybody thought that that pile of junk(misa-nee’s words not mine) could success in the first place. that robot had every design flaw possible, and during this last ep we even learned a couple more, like that after all the new parts and money invested, the engine was still an old diesel one. Come on Aki-chan, I expected something better from you(It’s like what someone from the audience said, “that’s Robo-bu for you” lol).

In all honesty, I never thought that the robot would fail because of old engineering and outdated parts… I thought it would fail because of its size or lack of funds. I think finding a new engine and way to power the robot should be easy enough though if they just redesigned the core of the robot…
Not that I know anything about engineering so =X

I found THIS because I can’t watch Kinny Riddle’s video. It’s a longer version but it’s still fun to watch. For someone who voiced Sakura Ichiko she sure is shy. Also Kana Hanazawa’s Engrish is the best! “Nice Chesto!”

I can understand losing interest in your hobbies, and having to abandon a dream or a goal down the line(for whatever reason). Thing is, what could possibly have changed Misa so much that she’s unwilling to even reply to her sister? Poor Aki…

Its heartbreaking to see Aki dejected. Kai should have at least hugged her. I also blame that sponsor (whose name escapes me at the moment) for pushing a marketing advertisement when they haven’t even tested the robot. That’s bad PR right there. It certainly made Aki feel worse.

Honestly though, I was worried about the robot the moment it was assembled. It looked like crap and it didn’t look anything like the one in the first episode. Still after all that, it only means that the Robotics Club can pick up the pieces and try again. That’s what Aki’s optimism is for.

I should think it’s pretty bad PR for the company that sponsored them – Mitchie’s family… don’t remember the name right now either o_o although it IS also their fault for making such a big deal out of something that wasn’t even tested yet. I would think it’s because they had a lot of faith in the creation of the robot, but seeing how it’s been less than spectacular, they might even pull their funding out.

Anyway, that all does narrow down to Aki’s embarrassment and the fact that yes, her robot didn’t live up to its expectations. I do feel bad for her and wish that it didn’t have to be witnessed by hundreds(?) of people… but I guess that can also serve as more motivation to prove yourself again =)

It’s hard for me to consider the GunPro-1 a ‘failure’, looking at it from Aki’s point of view. The only failure is that it was underpowered, which they knew. Maybe that it was so noisy. But they had to know what it would perform like, given that they built it. I think it’s more the disappointment of the crowd that made her feel bad, because she wants people to be excited and happy about it. And if it had been their own test, like it was going to be, it probably would have been considered more of a success.

Kona was actually capable of communicating with airi in netspeak! :P
As for the Big Sister (complex?), I guess what happened to her was growing up and realising “big humanoid mecha dont work due to basic physics involved!”…